Magnolia Park City Hall and Central Fire Station
Houston, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The City of Magnolia Park was incorporated on July 1, 1913, on property first developed by John Thomas Brady in 1890 as a large excursion park. For the municipality's first ten years, city offices were located in various temporary facilities, all situated along Harrisburg Boulevard. By the early 1920s, officials decided to consolidate administrative offices for the mayor and city aldermen with the central fire station in a single building at the site of the city's original fire station, which was razed to make way for the new structure. Designed by the Houston architectural firm of McLelland & Fink and constructed by Magnolia Park contractor Charley Dahl, the combined city hall and fire station was dedicated on July 1, 1923, the tenth anniversary of Magnolia Park's incorporation. On October 16, 1926, the City of Houston annexed the city of Magnolia Park. This facility then served the Houston Fire Department as Fire Station No. 20 and as a regional battalion headquarters. A Houston Police Department substation was also located here. Eventually, the Houston Police Department vacated the building and Fire Station No. 20 was relocated in 1973. The building has also served as a Harris County precinct voting location. The two-story dark red brick and cast stone building is divided by vertical piers into sections, with an entrance door leading to a stairway to second floor offices on the west, and the fire station and subsequent additions to the east. Later renovations included a brick calaboose appended to the building's east side. The parapet over the entry contains a scalloped pediment framing a cast stone panel inscribed "City Hall." Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2009
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When the young city of Magnolia Park outgrew its scattered temporary offices, its leaders combined city hall and the central fire station in a single brick building, dedicated in 1923 on the tenth anniversary of the town's incorporation. Designed by a Houston architectural firm and built by a local contractor, it housed the mayor, aldermen, and firefighters under one roof. After Houston annexed Magnolia Park in 1926 the building carried on as a fire station, police substation, and even a voting precinct.
Why it matters
The dual-purpose building embodies how small incorporated towns pooled their limited resources to provide civic services before being absorbed into the growing metropolis around them.
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